Big Blue Huddle

Itis very sad that it is ending in defeat not glory but he has his wealth, his health, his family and millions of fans who will soon forget about recent futility to, rightly in my mind, focus on his amazing accomplishments with us on and off the field. He won at the highest level and did so without arrogance, as a good team mate and family man who has also quietly done a lot for charities and local causes. All good things come to and end but he has given us memories that will last our lifetime. If and when the NFL gets to celebrate 200 years Eli Manning

I live in Muswell Hill, a North London suburb. I was born in Birkenhead, Wirral (across the River Mersey from Liverpool). I have also lived/worked in Tampere, Finland/Moscow, Russia/Atlanta, Georgia. My brother lives in North Carolina (recently moved from Wisconsin) & my brother-in-law, aunt/uncle/cousins in NJ hence the Giants fandom.

In about 90 minutes time Ceri & I will argue over Lock, Jones, Dillard, J Williams in person.This is the first Giants draft in half a dozen years when I have no sense at all who we truly want. Given our crushed dreams of Conklin and Floyd I think our newfound opaqueness is a good thing.

I assume the defensive review carries a health warning?

Farewell to Chief. I always enjoyed his posts. A tough time for his family so my best wishes to them all.

Patti
The Giants obviously have a wide range of weaknesses and needs with very few clear strengths across O, D and ST. Do you think the Giants will try to make incremental improvements everywhere spreading their high picks/major FA additions across the roster or do you think they will focus their efforts with multiple high picks/top additions in a couple of key areas (like they did with DE, CB in 2015)?

My ESPN stats geek cousin is convinced Garcia is not getting out of round 2 in a weak OT draft class it is his belief he may be the best after one year of NFL strength and technique work. He thinks that view is now quite widely shared on the to side but how teams see it is anyone's guess.

My cousin Danny is an ESPN analytics geek and he keeps saying Garcia or Lamp are the ones he'd take. When he first said this to me Garcia was R4 and Lamp R2 now they are projected to R2 and R1 respectively reflecting the NFL scout buzz. He likes Magnuson as a mid round T and Asiata and Siracusa as mid round guards. Of all the TEs he likes Engram best and Leggett in the mid rounds. Interesting to see how they stack up in Ceri's analysis when he does his review.

I think we're taking a DL in round one. Just my gut feel that they will value interior pass rush or a hybrid DE/DT option higher than a top TE or the late first round tackle options (as all have issues). Despite our relative depth WR or CB is always a possibility with Reese.

For the last 2 years I've poured over the safeties and cornerbacks. This year I barely glanced at them. Maybe next year I will be able to say the sam about OT and TE...come on Jerry, get it done!

I just thought I'd mention that the Mets achievement of making the play-offs with 'a team of injury replacements' has drawn a bit of attention this side of the pond with a lot of emphasis on the 'amazing coaching job' doe by Terry Collins. Given how many Mets fans love to hate him is this a situation where distance lends perspective or one when a little knowledge is a dangerous thing?

It would be David Shaw if he would come.
Assuming he won't I'd say Hue Jackson.

One of the hardest things to do is have great success yet stay humble. TC achieved this in my view and that of the majority of press and players that have worked with him in NYC. A class act to the last and one I fear we will come to miss more than some fans appreciate.

Sometimes if you look hard you start seeing what you want to see. Reynolds has not done anything in several years bouncing between practice squads and active rosters without doing anything much in active game time to suggest he's a bona fide nfl starter. I can see that he could be better than Cordle but a legitimate insurance policy that won't give Eli sleepless nights...?!

Ceri, if the Giants feel like you do I'm struggling to see that the risk/reward is balanced with Walton. The downside risk with him is only mitigated if we either have or can draft someone we see as having the talent to develop into a starter and who could, if emergency struck, step in and at least not be abysmal. The idea that if Walton busts we are in the safe hands of Dallas Reynolds is somehow not making me feel all warm and fuzzy! How do you read the situation?